Maximize Ecommerce Revenue: A Comprehensive Guide to Email Marketing Strategies

As an ecommerce brand, email can be your highest ROI sales channel.

But if you think just sending a bunch of newsletter emails to your entire list or a single abandoned cart email is going to get the job done, you are in for a rude awakening.

Think about it — when customers visit your site, they are at different points in their relationship with you and your brand.

You need to meet them where they are and you need to create multiple emails to do so effectively.

You need to be using lifecycle email marketing.

What is Lifecycle Email Marketing?

Think of the customer’s engagement with your brand as a journey — a series of small steps they take on their path to buying your products.

Lifecycle email marketing is all about first understanding and defining those steps, then sending emails to customers at the critical points of that journey to help them take that next important step forward toward a purchase.

For example, you might see shoppers on your site go through this lifecycle:

1. Visits your store (first-timer).
2. Browses products and leaves.
3. Visits store a second time.
4. Adds items to cart but leaves again.
5. Returns a third time.
6. Completes their first purchase.
7. Returns to site 4 months later to place a second order.
8. Over the course of a year, becomes a “power buyer” or “mega fan.”

That’s a lot of different customers at a lot of different lifecycle stages. And your customers might go through many more.

TAKEAWAY STRATEGY

Your mission as an email marketer is to anticipate the steps in the customer journey and use email as natural touch points to lead the customer through their lifecycle (and your sales funnel) — resulting in more (and faster) sales for you.

When to Send Emails That Push Customers Closer to a Purchase

When people give you their email address, they expect you to email them.

They want to hear from you.

And an email nudge from you can make all the difference to your bottom line.

Let’s consider the six lifecycle points below and talk about an email strategy for each:

1. When a customer visits the store for the first time.

Where do you begin?

Most store owners get this wrong by expecting a first-time visitor to buy immediately.

Then they get upset when their new visitor conversion rate is low.

This is essentially like trying to propose marriage on the first date.

Typically, I’ve found a new site visitor is going to need anywhere from 5 to 15 experiences or touch points with your brand before they are ready to buy.

At this stage, the goal is not an instant sale, but an opportunity for your brand to build a relationship with the visitor and turn them into a customer.

You can use storytelling and strong content to nurture first-time visitors and sending off a series of welcoming emails gives you a chance to tell your story, point out how you are unique, and explain why they should trust you.

TAKEAWAY STRATEGY

Use email acquisition offerings (like pop-ups and exit intents) to capture first-time visitor email addresses and send them a welcome series containing a mix of content and sales promotions.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Koa Coffee Example

After visiting the Koa Coffee website and signing up for emails, potential shoppers are greeted in their inbox with a short but impactful welcome email.

Readers are incentivized with a 10% off coupon, which helps to increase quick conversions.

The Goodwell Company Example

The Goodwell Company welcomes customers who share their email address by sending out an email that shares their story.

It also includes a 10% discount offer to help the reader feel compelled to make their first purchase.

2. When the customer browses some products but leaves your site.

Consider what might be holding your customer back at this stage and address this by email.

• Maybe you need to spotlight the positive reviews a product has received on your site.
• Maybe the customer just needs the nudge of a discount or free shipping to complete a purchase.

Try testing the addition of these elements into your email campaigns, to see if it garners an increase in click-through rate (CTR) or conversion.

Whatever your findings show, this is an important time for outreach because you don’t want to lose a customer who’s come this far.

Bliss Cosmetics Example

Bliss sends out reminder emails to people who have browsed an item.

With true-to-brand language and colors, they’ve crafted a message that incentivizes the purchaser to come back, while also suggesting other products.

TAKEAWAY STRATEGY

Utilize a browse abandonment email series that references the exact product or products your customer was viewing.

3. When the customer adds item(s) to their cart but leaves again.

Abandoned carts can kill a business.

You’ve got a customer to this point in the purchase funnel and you are so close.

• In this case, your customer might just need a reminder that they left the item behind.
• Or, depending on your product, they might not feel 100% comfortable buying from a business or brand that’s new to them.

Using incentives like discounts, free gifts, shipping, etc., might be the push they need to make that first critical purchase with you.

Abandoned cart email campaigns are a tried-and-true email marketing format.

In a 2017 survey, abandon cart emails were ranked as the number one most effective method in triggering new sales.

Eloquence Example

After adding an item to their basket and abandoning the site, users from the Eloquence website are greeted with an email that outlines the product they’ve left and reminds them to complete their purchase.

They also provide information about their customer service information, incase the reader has any questions.

TAKEAWAY STRATEGY

Set up your abandoned cart automation to send multiple emails that remind the customer of what was left behind. Depending on the cart value, offer incentives to bring them back.